Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee Convenes in Ankara After Two Years

The Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), which monitors relations between Turkey and the European Union, held its 82nd meeting in Ankara after a two-year hiatus. While the main agenda item of the meeting was Ekrem İmamoğlu, the participation of only 5 members of the European Parliament drew attention.

The Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), tasked with monitoring and evaluating regulations between Turkey and the European Union, came together for its 82nd meeting at a hotel in Ankara. Commission Co-Chair and AKP Istanbul Deputy İsmail Emrah Karayel justified holding the meeting at a hotel instead of the Parliament building due to the plenary hall being occupied.

Participation by European Parliament deputies remained low, with only 5 deputies attending the meeting, four of whom were full members and one substitute. The meeting was chaired by Greek deputy and Commission Co-Chair Emmanouil Kefalogiannis, and it was stated that three of the participants were deputies from Poland and one was Ilhan Kyuchyuk, a deputy from Bulgaria.

In his opening speech, Commission Co-Chair Karayel expressed his reaction to the presence of the PKK and FETÖ in EU member states. Greek co-chair Kefalogiannis stated that the meeting planned for April 2025 was postponed following the arrest of Ekrem İmamoğlu, and shared a letter he received from İmamoğlu. Throughout the meeting, visa liberalization, migration cooperation, the Libya agreement, and judicial processes were discussed; mutual criticisms and debates took place between Turkish and foreign deputies.